Maj. John Hatfield Brooks 1824 - 1907
Maj. John Hatfield Brooks , eldest son of John Thomas BROOKS (1794-1858) of Flitwick Manor, Flitwick, Bedfordshire. John Hatfield BROOKS went to India , arriving there on June 16, 1843 in Calcutta, where he joined the First Regiment of Light Cavalry in Bengal, but originally stayed with a Mr. MACKENZIE, a banker, in Calcutta. He was promoted to Lieutenant in 1845. ------------- http://archiver.rootsweb.com/th/read/INDIA/1998-02/0887370966 BROOKS/CLOETE/BIRD/OLIPHANT John Hatfield BROOKS (1824-1907) was the elder brother of my daughter's ancestor, George Henry BROOKS (1825-1910), and eldest son of John Thomas BROOKS (1794-1858) of Flitwick Manor, Flitwick, Bedfordshire. John Hatfield BROOKS went to India , arriving there on June 16, 1843 in Calcutta, where he joined the First Regiment of Light Cavalry in Bengal, but originally stayed with a Mr. MACKENZIE, a banker, in Calcutta. He was promoted to Lieutenant in 1845. On December 23, 1850 he married, by licence, in St.Paul's Cathedral, Calcutta, Sophia Margaret Myburgh CLOETE (1827-1897), daughter of Henry ("Hendrik") CLOETE from South Africa. Witnesses at the wedding were Robert Wilberforce BIRD (her brother-in-law), Catherine DICKENS, and three members of the Governor-General's Council: I. LOWIS, I.E.D. BETHUNE and F. CURRIE (the latter married one of R.W. BIRD's sisters). The best man was Laurence OLIPHANT, the noted world traveller, who was a "distant cousin of Sophies" (his grandmother was a CLOETE from South Africa who had married a Colonel CAMPBELL of the 72nd Regiment, while he was stationed in the Cape during the Napoleonic wars. In the marriage record, Sophia was described as being of "I.C. Bengal Establishment". John and Sophia had two daughters, neither of whom had issue. During the Indian Mutiny Sophia and her daughters were sent back to England for safety after enduring the siege of Mhow, but John saw distinguished action during the Mutiny in the 1st Bengal Light Infantry. John retired from India in 1863 to become one of the local gentry in Bedfordshire at Flitwick Manor for the rest of his life. I am interested to find out more about Sophia's origins, and links with the CLOETE, BIRD, DICKENS and OLIPHANT families in India. I have still not been able to locate her birth/baptismal record in South Africa. From her husband's diaries it would appear that she was born on September 4, 1827. I suspect her of being a daughter of Hendrik CLOETE (1784-1841) and his wife, Catharina Sophia VAN DER BYL (1805-1861), daughter of Pieter Gerhard VAN DER BYL and Sophia Margaretha MYBURGH, but I so far cannot prove it. Hendrik and Catharina were married and lived in Stellenbosch, although Hendrik died in Klein Westervoort, and Catharina in Rondebosch.
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Born: 1824 | Baptised:
| Died: 1907 | Buried:
| Family: Brooks |
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